Biare, who had been busier than before with engagement preparations, finally took some time to go outside.

This was possible because her engagement to the Crown Prince had not been made public yet.

If this fact were to become known, it was clear that her freedom would be restricted.

As the engagement preparations were being carried out in utmost secrecy, the servants of both the Imperial Palace and the Duke’s residence were maintaining absolute silence and working discreetly.

Leaving the Duke’s residence and arriving at the Grand Temple, Biare went down to the underground prayer room with practiced ease.

As she exchanged greetings with the members of Elmada, Rosalyn had already approached her side.

“My lady, have you been well?”

Although they had recently attended a literary gathering together, Rosalyn’s greeting as if they hadn’t met in a long time made Biare smile.

“I’ve been well, thanks to you, young lady. It’s been a while, Giuseppe.”

Biare greeted him with a gentle smile as she sat down next to Rosalyn.

“Yes, elder sister. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

Giuseppe, with his kind nature, always welcomed her with a bright expression.

Perhaps because they had joined around the same time, the two seemed to be getting along quite well.

“I wish my fiancé was half as good as Young Lord Lisandro.”

Biare somewhat agreed with Rosalyn’s cute complaint.

Gaizen lacked the attentiveness to care for his fiancée, and despite Biare’s warnings, she was worried that he wouldn’t easily change.

As they continued their conversation, a familiar face gradually announced the start of the meeting.

As usual, Mateo broke the ice and began the discussion.

“I recently attended the Central Governing Council meeting, and His Highness the Crown Prince’s face was exceptionally bright.”

“He’s been gaining quite a reputation in other empires lately. Could that be why?”

At those words, Biare’s expression instantly hardened, and she swallowed dryly.

Anxiously hoping they wouldn’t notice, she focused on the next part of the conversation.

“But he’s not one to show emotions in the council chamber.”

“Then could it be that he’s found love belatedly?”

A young lady asked with sparkling eyes, and the basement filled with murmurs.

‘Huh― nonsense.’

Biare clicked her tongue at their absurd conversation.

“Come to think of it, that’s why he cleared out all those women from his bedchamber.”

“I think that’s really it. Looking at how quickly all those rumors died down.”

Following their reasoning, soon the gossip columns would be filled with articles titled ‘Crown Prince in Love’.

As her concerns became reality, Biare let out a shallow sigh, and Rosalyn beside her observed her reaction.

Although Rosalyn didn’t know that Biare was secretly engaged to Ivan, she seemed to have vaguely noticed that Biare didn’t like him.

After all, Biare and he had been mentioned in various newspapers and gossip columns a few years ago, so this reaction wasn’t strange at all.

Noticing people belatedly gauging her reaction, Biare responded indifferently and calmly.

“If His Highness the Crown Prince has found someone good, we should congratulate him.”

As if agreeing with her words, they nodded, and Rosalyn quickly shared new information to divert the topic away from the Crown Prince.

The information gained from the Elmada social club was quite fresh, so Biare lost track of time as she became absorbed in the conversation.

The meeting finally ended late in the afternoon, and after saying goodbye to them, she sat alone in the prayer room.

She remained there under the pretext of finding peace of mind, wanting to rest alone in the quiet place.

If anyone were to come across her here, they would think she was a devout believer.

With her hands clasped, Biare closed her eyes and became lost in thought.

She recalled the days when she had desperately pleaded to the god Ekarto.

Now, she no longer wished upon the god, intending to protect Dension with her own strength.

‘Please hang in there until then, Sion.’

Just as she was about to rise from her seat after playing the role of a devout believer for the day,

The door to the prayer room opened, and soon footsteps were heard.

At first, she thought it was a believer coming to worship Ekarto, but seeing the footsteps approaching her, it seemed to be a priest.

‘Are they asking me to vacate the seat now?’

Since there was a separate evening service time for believers, she was willing to make way for them.

As she was about to stand up, Biare casually looked at the approaching priest and let out a short gasp.

“Sion…”

“…”

He tilted his head with one eyebrow raised, silently gazing at Biare.

Startled by his appearance, she hesitated for a moment before greeting him as if nothing was amiss.

“It’s an honor to see you, Lord Verdeum.”

Nodding in response to her greeting, Dension soon took a seat next to her, and Biare glanced at him quizzically.

As far as she knew, the past Dension had certainly been an atheist, so she couldn’t understand why he had come here.

Sensing her gaze, his blue eyes turned to her again, and a flustered Biare fixed her eyes forward.

“I simply came to seek advice from the Archbishop.”

He explained his reason for visiting the Grand Temple before Biare could even ask.

She began to worry that an atheist like him seeking out Ekarto’s prophet might mean he was going through a difficult situation.

At this moment, his emotionless voice was heard once again.

“Who is Sion?”

“…”

Confused, Biare avoided his blue eyes and couldn’t say anything.

She had unconsciously called him Sion last time as well, so he must have found it strange.

“Is it difficult for you to tell me?”

He seemed to be concerned about her, probably due to the recent incident.

Purely out of sympathy.

‘How should I explain this?’

Explaining his past self to Dension felt both ironic and peculiar.

Biare pondered and pondered, trying to suppress her complex, indescribable emotions.

After calming her confused mind, she spoke to the man sitting next to her in a composed voice.

“He was someone precious to me.”

Someone who gave her the certainty that she could never love anyone else as much.

Someone who showed her the true meaning of love when she thought it was nothing more than a trivial emotional game.

Someone who, unlike her pragmatic self, viewed the world uprightly and had much to teach her.

Biare’s precious person was sitting right beside her.

Knowing that she could no longer carelessly desire or approach him, she forced a smile.

Unaware of Biare’s inner thoughts, he asked in a low voice.

“Where is this person now?”

“…”

She wanted to say that person was sitting right next to her, that it was him, but Biare couldn’t say anything.

The reality felt too miserable, so she hung her head and quietly answered.

“…I can’t meet him anymore.”

The words didn’t come easily, and she had pondered countless times in that short moment before mustering the courage to speak.

At those words, Dension’s cold blue eyes wavered uncontrollably, and he cast a glance at Biare, who had her head bowed.

Unable to speak easily, he said in a subdued voice,

“I’ve also lost precious people before.”

Biare raised her head to look at Dension at his sudden words, and realized that he was trying to comfort her in his own way.

“At first, I was scared and afraid.”

Dension began to tell his story, which she probably already knew from the past him.

As she had heard before the regression, his parents were good people.

Although their relationship had started as a political marriage and they were somewhat distant, they cared for each other more than anyone else in their hearts and were warm people who cherished their domain’s people.

That’s why he truly respected and loved his parents.

Their sudden death became a turning point that completely changed his life.

Although he had been receiving successor training for a long time, he had to suddenly take on the role of family head before even coming of age.

“Despite losing precious people, I didn’t have time to grieve.”

Speaking calmly but with a bitter smile, he added playfully,

“There were many people I had to protect sitting on my shoulders.”

Having only held the funeral before immediately receiving his title, he said he struggled a lot at first due to his inexperience.

After gradually settling the situation and stabilizing the governance of his domain, he finally visited his parents’ graves and poured out the tears and sorrow he had been holding back, he concluded his story.

“Is it alright for you to tell me such stories?”

In her past life, Dension had been cautious about bringing up stories about his parents and servants to her.

She was worried that the man in front of her might have said unnecessary things just to comfort her.

Seeing her expression, Dension chuckled and shrugged, then answered,

“I simply spoke as my heart moved me.”

“…”

“Don’t let yourself be consumed too much by that sadness. There must be many people worried about you, Lady…”

Even though he must be overwhelmed with his own sorrows, he was still considerate enough to care for her.

This man would never know how his kindness made her want to rely on him and become weak.

As tears welled up in her eyes, Dension looked visibly flustered, but soon he smiled slightly and asked in a playful tone,

“…Were my words that moving?”

“It’s not like that.”

This day would be remembered as a new and special day for Biare.

It was a moment when a new memory was being created between them, not just a memory that only she remembered from a world that no longer existed.